Can A McDonald's Burger Last Forever?

After reading an article about a school teacher who kept a McDonald's burger for 12 years, artistSally Davies (whose work has been snatched up by celebrities Sarah Jessica Parker and Johnny Depp) was told not to believe everything she reads. "My friends said that a burger from McDonald's would rot within two-three days, if left out on the counter," said Davies. So what did Davies do? "I bought a Happy Meal and took it home. I planned to photograph the decomposing burger every day to monitor the process and send the photos to my friend." She even mapped the Happy Meal's progress on Facebook and Flickr.

It's been six months since Davies' Happy Meal project began and oddly: it looks exactly the same. How's that possible? "That's because McDonald's has 78 different additives in the recipe. That's the reason for durability," explains registered dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot. "That can be traced to one, a whopping amount of preservatives, and two, trans fatty acids. Trans fats extend the shelf life of food items which may be good for the food companies, but it's not good for our bodies." Zuckerbrot references a study that appeared in Britain's Independent, which claimed after surveying several McDonald's menu items they found, "an average of seven E-numbers per product." E-numbers are European codes for food additives and preservatives. McDonald'swebsite claims their burgers are 100% beef from corn-fed cows. But the buns and the cheese, well that's another story.

But back to the 180-day Happy Meal. Would it be safe to eat this burger if you were on a deserted island? Probably. Though Zuckerbrot doesn't recommend it, "If the meat is cooked-through, there is no mold growth or decomposition, and from an aesthetic perspective it looks the same — because of preservatives there shouldn't be any bacteria." In essence, the folks on LOST would've been fine. Though it's best to heed Zuckerbrot's advice, "You should throw out cooked meat after two or three days, when it starts to smell funny."

McDonald's has responded to the artist (and others who've tried this experiment) by posting on their website that all this hubbub is just urban legend.

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